


Normal or Abnormal?

by UnknownRegion



Category: Naruto
Genre: Dark, Dark Comedy, Descriptions of the apocalypse, Disturbing Themes, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Reincarnation, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-02
Updated: 2019-06-19
Packaged: 2019-08-14 15:59:09
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 19,004
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16495784
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UnknownRegion/pseuds/UnknownRegion
Summary: Apparently, having previously survived two decades in a world crawling with zombies was a good training experience for his next life as a ninja. Who would've known? Note the sarcasm.[OC Reincarnated as Nohara Rin's twin brother. M/M]





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> **WARNING:**  
>  My OC came from an apocalyptic background; a dystopian world. Hence, his definition of normal is pretty skewed.
> 
> If you are uncomfortable with the act of human selfishness, greed, and extreme violence, then this is not the story for you. if you are also uncomfortable with my OC (someone who clawed his way through mountains of dead bodies on a daily basis for even the slightest chance of survival) being a 'child prodigy', then this is not the story for you. If you take the dark humor or disturbing narrative I write way too seriously, then please, I implore that you press the back button. I love creative writing because its just fiction. Based on imagination.
> 
> There might or might not be mentions of cannibalism, rape, anarchy, and other taboo-ed subjects that I am too lazy to list out. But, you know, just those usual things that people do and say when there's literally no law/justice/government to tell you otherwise. My OC also has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Extreme Paranoia, Psychosis, Depression, Insomnia and many other issues associated with war veterans. So expect many flashbacks that could be triggering.
> 
> You have been forewarned, so please, spare me the "You sick mother****r! I thought this story was a good read at first, but I'm dropping it! Who in their right minds would be ok with XYZ?! Burn in hell ***** (ﾉ｀□´)ﾉ⌒┻━┻" comments/PMs if you aren't the type who likes to watch the world burn for no apparent reason other than your own twisted amusement.
> 
> Cheers,  
> UnknownRegion ~ (๑ゝڡ◕๑)
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto, obviously ༼ ಥ ‿ ಥ ༽ although I do wish for it.

Liam has never believed in the theory of heaven or hell after death - least of all  _reincarnation_. In fact, he wholeheartedly believes that once somebody dies with their head intact, they would turn into a rotting meat sack that craves nothing but the flesh of humans; which was pretty much an accurate description of the reality he grew up with.

He was a person whose childhood consisted of scavenging for consumables, drifting from one area to another, and  _neverending_   _battles_. Despite how bleak the description of his early years sounded, he was actually considered those few lucky ones who were young enough to adapt to the beginning of the apocalypse, yet still developed and smart enough to survive till adulthood.

But those stories were for another day.

At the present time, Liam was mentally preparing himself to be expelled from a person's womb. It took him a quite some time to figure out that this dark and tight space was actually the inside of a human being ( _or at least he hoped it was a human. He would off himself the second it turned out he was the child of a zombie_ ). But when he did, he simply felt...  _tired_. Not happy or sad or any other strong emotions at the prospect of gaining a second chance at life. Just tired.

Living twenty years with the undead was tiring. Avoiding anything that moves was tiring. Being cautious of everyone was tiring. Constant vigilance was tiring. Eating dry rations on good days and starving on bad days was tiring. _Everything was tiring._

And that pretty much summed up his entire nine months inside the womb; with him having accepted his death and just tired of this second life he has yet to live.

Also, the experience of being pushed out of a vagina was something he dearly wished to  _never_  experience ever again; he would rather just vanish after death (or  _not_  retain his memories). The first thing he did upon gracing the earth was to take in a deep breath... and continued to breathe like normal.

What? Newborns would usually cry the second they leave the womb? Not if he wanted to live another day.

Despite having  _been_  reincarnated into a new body, the instinct to  _never_  cry out was drilled  _deeply_  into his very soul. After all, the loud ones ( _herbivores_ ) were  _always_  the  _first_  to perish. After two decades of living through a world where the undead roamed the earth, where humans were at the near bottom of the food pyramid, he would be an utter  _imbecile_  to attract unwanted attention to his person.

Now that he was young again and obviously very dependent on the two who contributed their DNA to form this new body of his, he would do his best to not become a burden - lest they discard him and allow those rotting bastards to eat him alive. Again.

 _Once_  was more than enough, thank you very much.

It was a pretty shite way to go if he was being honest, but he had already prepared for this tragically painful ending since he was a kid. Kinda ironic that the first time he saw a zombie, they were eating someone alive, and the last he saw a zombie, a horde of them were eating  _him_  alive.

Actually, scratch that.

In a way, it was quite a humorous way to go. Much better than being made into a human jerky by his fellow homo sapiens, at the very least. Now  _that_  would be  _very_  excruciating and sardonic for him.

The last person Liam had coincidentally encountered before his own demise was a middle-aged woman. She had been made into emergency rations and was missing three limbs and a breast. She even told him quite ruefully that the guy who had captured her for what seemed to be months had forced her to eat her own meat to prevent her from starving.

... Not that she seemed repulsed by the idea.

Apparently, she also informed him in descriptive details that she tasted quite delicious and filling. They both had a good ( _noiseless_ ) laugh over the description of how she had vomited the first few times but eventually ended up looking forward to her next meal time anyway.

Liam had left the omnivore shortly to her fate after getting directions from her. She was also kind enough to point him to the weapons' shack - saying that there was plenty of steel in there. It was too bad he didn't get the chance to use his newly obtained katana in battle.

With a sigh, he ignores the blurry giants that were now wiping the fluids off of him with their ginormous hands, more keen on checking his surroundings for danger despite the lack of proper vision. He didn't mind their muffled voices washing over him.

He did, however, wish that they would hurry with their cleaning. Blood attracts those rotting bastards far too quickly - their sense of smell phenomenal despite their decaying bodies.

Hopefully, the people here were in a secured location when the woman went into labor.

Before Liam could succumb to his newborn body's tiredness, his dull hearing picked up a baby's piercing shriek - much to his growing horror. Knowing that his fate was literally in the hands of these adults around him, he sincerely hopes whoever was nearest to that screaming baby would put it out of its misery before it could further compromise  _his_  safety.

He didn't know how long he tries to mentally convey his wishes to them, but when the baby's cry was abruptly cut off, he sighs in relief ( _a freshly killed body was a good resource to have if one wanted to temporarily set up a campsite_ ). Though that relief turned to alarm when something was pushed forcefully against his lips. Liam fought a difficult battle against the thing, but it was all for naught. The instincts to survive by any means necessary was  _also_  carved deeply into his soul.

His lips latched onto the thing ( _a nipple?_ ) and gulped the fluids with the ferocity of a starved zombie - feeling equal disgust and comfort at the sensation of sustenance settling in his stomach.

Liam closes his eyes in defeat as he, once again, accepts his lack of independence and freedom of choice. He would need to endure a few years, just until he was strong and fast enough to win against a pack of zombies. Until then, he would accept any outcome as it was literally out of his hands.

At least he was born human and not one of them rotting bastards.

* * *

Liam - although his DNA donors persisted in calling him  _Ryoukun_  - felt displaced.

During his first week as a newborn, he was constantly jumpy due to the loud baby the adults stupidly kept. The thing was  _noisy_ and a safety hazard, yet nobody discarded it, much to his confusion. No matter how confident these people were at keeping two vulnerable babies safe from those rotting bastards, Liam learned the hard way that  _no place on earth was ever considered safe._

But when a week of welfare turned into two. And two into four... Liam calmed his wariness enough to realize that a few somethings were amiss.

For one; the air smells fresh and nice, nothing like the putrid stench of decaying flesh he was constantly exposed to on a daily basis. This meant that they should be far from any cities or housing areas. The second discomforting thing was the contradictorily comfortable bedding he slept on every day. In addition to that oddity, his baby-underwear ( _that he learned in the future was called a nappy_ ) was always fresh - never once reused.

All evidence points that they were living a pretty easy life compared to his previous one. He would've assumed that the base they were in was somehow doing its job at keeping them safe, but one of the two main things that threw him off was the language.

After the apocalypse, humanity as a whole didn't care much about countries, race, gender, or religion. Language, two decades later, became a barrier everyone overcame by speaking only a single language. It was a necessity. So for the two caretakers to actually speak a different language to what everyone else was speaking... it baffled him.

Back then, he was way too young to retain any learnings from the pre-apocalyptic world, hence he was pretty much oblivious to the previous cultures and countries that existed. Knowledge was power, and for him who could not even understand their very words... it made him  _skittish_. Unpredictability was  _not_  considered a good thing.

Liam, despite survival being keyed into his very soul, didn't actually fear death. What he feared the most was what followed after - which was his corpse turning into a rotting meat sack that craves human flesh. His current reincarnation might just be a one-time thing ( _hopefully_ ). So, yes, he was desperately absorbing the language they spoke as much as possible.

All because he wanted- no,  _needed_  to learn about his current situation. About this base, especially. He needed to know more about his living area and the community in order to feel safe ( _or hightail out of here as soon as he turns five_ ). A healthy dose of mistrust and being a lone wolf has kept him alive for over two decades. He didn't know how else to live.

The final oddity that left him feeling displaced was the weird energy, the  _Warmth_  he constantly feels located around his belly button area.

It had freaked him out at first, of course, his fear of becoming one of  _them_  ( _those that spat acid every thirty-three seconds to be more specific_ ) almost causing him to kill himself by asphyxiation. Thankfully, decades of survival instincts forced his mind to calm the fuck down and  _think_ logically.

There was absolutely _no fucking way_  he could have been one of them baby-Zs. He has encountered numerous baby zombies over the years and those  _beasts_  all had the strength of an adult male. Their dexterity and flexibility were inhumane as well. Furthermore, they do not actually need to breathe; what with being an undead and all that.

Currently, this body of his was lacking so much in coordination it  _hurt_ to even think about it. He doubted very much that he could crawl the ceilings effortlessly like them. Oh, and he needed to breathe, obviously. In addition to that, his egg-donor kept shoving her boobs in his face - they were soft and not decomposing, another sign that they were alive.

Hence, he started to experiment with this Warmth since he had nothing better to do than eat and shite. It flowed throughout his body like blood, so Liam assumes that they were important in keeping him alive. And despite that, he cared not if he blew himself into pieces if his experiments failed.

He prodded them constantly, always wondering what would happen if he voluntarily guided the Warmth towards his limbs or his eyes or any other parts of his body.

The result of his experiments was actually fruitful. For one, it enhanced his senses to a shocking degree ( _especially his vision_ ), making eavesdropping on conversations easier. Another positive was that the Warmth strengthened his muscles and bones. It gave him some leeway to coordinate his limbs better, and he was able to lift his head despite only being a month old.

The only downside was that the Warmth ran out of juice quite quickly after a few seconds of actively using it. It was, however, still very useful. He wished he had this Warmth back in his previous body. It would've made fighting less complicated and more injuries-free.

Hmm... Maybe the Warmth could be used to accelerate his innate healing rate? Food for thought.

* * *

Five months after becoming 'Ryou-kun' ( _he discovered that the -kun was not a part of his name. Just something attached at the back and having no apparent purpose_ ), he was finally able to understand the language somewhat. It was as they say; never underestimate a cornered zombie. The first few months were horrible, though. Why did this language have so many different ways to refer to oneself?

_Watashi. Watakushi. Atashi. Atai. Ore. Boku._

And those were  _just_  the ones he knew. What if there were more...?

Ryou ( _because he has accepted that this body was not_ Liam  _anymore_ ) was frightened at the possibility. After all, even their ' _you_ 's had a lot of variations. Furthermore, he still hasn't matched any word with 'zombie' just yet. Why these herbivorous caretakers never seem to concern themselves with those rotting bastards remained a mystery till this very day.

 _Anyway_ , the point was that he was still learning.

But from his current understanding of the language, he learned that the noisy baby that  _always_  cried was his... twin-sister. He didn't know how to feel about that - but he put that fact aside uncomfortably for now since she was still too weak to do him any harm. In the future, however, he would no doubt be extremely wary of this sister of his ( _for now, she was in the undetermined_   _category)_.

Children who were born  _now_  were more dangerous than adults ( _and older people_ ). Sometimes, those in  _Liam's_  generation were killed due to underestimating the young ones.  _Liam_ , who was considered to be in generation Pre-A, always threatened anybody younger than he to fuck off from his sights.

... Although he got the same treatment sometimes due to his young age. After all, he was considered a rarity.

Not many children below the age of ten were able to survive the first five years of the apocalypse. But he, a five-year-old at that point in time, was able to despite all odds. Hence, for anybody younger than  _Liam_ , everyone  _needed_  to assume that they were born after the apocalypse and thus  _dangerous_.

They had to. It was a requirement to remain vigilant at all times,  ** _especially_  **against a family member. 9 out of 10 times, when someone got pregnant, it was with an ulterior motive.

After all, he has seen many cases where  _families_  used each other as bait or food. It was a pretty common sight, to be honest. And Ryou, for one, was thankful that his previous set of parents were dead from the get-go. Now that he has another set... He would be sure to plan their demise before they could plan his ( _after fully utilizing all their uses, of course_ ), no matter how non-hostile they were currently.

But for now, he was powerless against them.

When Rin - the twin - grasps his shirt with her chubby fingers, he aimed a pudgy fist at her equally pudgy hand. However, due to how uncoordinated and weak his limbs were ( _he was unfortunately out of Warmth-juice_ ), he only manages to hit himself in the chest. Ryou grimaces at the slight throb and made a mental note to train up his pain tolerance again.

For now, he could do nothing but roll away from the  _little menace's_  flailing paws ( _insert shudder here_ ).

* * *

"Ryou-kun~ Say tou-chan, to-u-cha-n," Ryou hid a sneer behind his hand as his herbivorous sperm donor, Nohara Reo, continues to use that infuriating baby-speak at him from his place on the couch.

Ryou loathes it. He could understand better if the man articulates properly.

"Tou-chan!" Rin squeals noisily beside him like a demented piglet.

The man with the brown hair and eyes smiled in absolute glee as he picks the twelve-month-old babe and spun her around in circles. Ryou ignores the two father and child pair, more concerned about his future plans to escape this horrible place.

Despite them staying in a  _very_  clean and maintained house ( _permanently? Temporarily?_ ), he feels uncomfortable with how the windows were not sealed by two-by-fours and how the entrances were not reinforced with spikes, traps, and barbwires. There were also no weapons on standby in the case of raiders and zombies.

And that kind of unprepared incompetence got people killed.

Ryou may be indifferent about his life, but if it was possible for him to remain alive, why would he choose death? Mistakes made by one's own stupidity should be avoided at all costs. This was why he couldn't stand people who had become complacent after a short period of ' _peace_ '.

"That's my little girl! Who's the smartest and cutest girl of them all? You~ It's you, Rin-chan~" Reo continues to coo as he hugged Rin to his chest and sat on the colorful mat Ryou was brooding at - and it wasn't by choice that the mentally 25-year-old was there and not inside a wardrobe or cabinet somewhere.

He preferred those kinds of places; out of sight meant out of danger.

"Kaa-chan whe'e?" The brunette tilted her head in query, brown eyes wide open as she gazes at their caretaker. The girl and man looked alike; right down to their purple, rectangular discoloration on both their cheeks. Rin's appeared two months after their birth, as if someone had inked her face. They were odd to Ryou, but he shrugged it off. He had seen weirder.

On the other hand, Ryou found it humorous that the man was so unguarded around someone from generation Beta. If he was in Rin's position, he would've had plenty of opportunities to slit Reo's throat, or with the help of the Warmth, punch it and allow the airway to collapse.

It was too bad that all the cooking knives were stored inside the high cupboards ( _Ryou grudgingly admits that the two herbivores did have a brain in them for keeping blades away from the two youngins)_  and that Ryou was too young to survive on his own just yet.

"Kaa-chan is making lunch. Are you hungry, my little princess?" The little girl shrieks with laughter as her tummy was tickled.

Ryou twitches, and in his imagination, smothers her with a pillow. He did have to wonder why the man and the woman were not enforcing Rin to remain absolutely silent, however. That was the most basic training the children from generation Alpha and Beta obtained.

In contradiction, the caretakers did their very best to make her  _scream_  and  _laugh_. They also tried to do so with him, but he tolerated their poking and prodding and kept his silence. He made it a test of endurance, to see who gave up first. He always wins.

"Un! Hungwy, hungwy! Nii-chan hungwy?" The unwanted pest wobbles away from their male caretaker and pounces on him.

Before she could manage to land on him, however, Ryou drops onto his back and  _rolled_.

With a straight face, he continued to roll and roll _and roll_  away from the little girl who was chasing after him with a pair of unnervingly determined eyes ( _it made him shudder_ ). He knew that he was not fast enough to escape her grasp without the help of his Warmth, so rolling became a habit of his until he was balanced enough to run without falling.

Their antics made a loud bark of laughter escape Reo's lips, but Ryou ignores the twinge of annoyance in favor of making a tactical retreat once his body hits the couch. He altogether misses how Reo had snatched the little menace and carried her with one arm, all the whilst shooting fond gazes at his son's back as the latter struggled to squeeze under the couch.

Just before Ryou could fully enter his hiding spot, his legs were grabbed and he was pulled and lifted onto his male caretaker's unused arm. Reluctantly, he fisted the man's shirt in order to stabilize and keep himself from falling.

"Kaa-chan! Eat, eat!" The girl cheers happily as she was placed into her high chair. Ryou was next, but not before Reo planted his lips on his chubby cheeks - which made him idly smack the man's face away. It was too much of a common occurrence for Ryou to care anymore.

"Hai. Itadakimasu," Nohara Momo, a woman with black hair and eyes, smiles at her daughter as she sets the table.

"Itadawkmashu!" Rin repeats, completely butchering the word.

"I-ta-da-ki-ma-su, Rin-chan."

Completely ignoring the girl's second attempt, Ryou frowns at his lunch; minced fruits, vegetables, and meats, all divided equally into small portions on his plastic plate. It wasn't that he was unhappy with the choices - more like he was much too used to dry rations like biscuits and instant noodles.

Despite how tiring it was to always forage for food, he became used to them early in Liam's life. Even though he was in a new body, it felt like his taste buds and limited appetite had followed him through his reincarnation.

It felt as if all the food he was given were too flavourful to him ( _the first time his female caretaker fed him solid foods, he vomited_  everything). But Ryou was never a picky eater. He has eaten  _everything_  before.  _Everything_. So he grabbed a broccoli and gnawed on it sullenly - completely missing the two adults' exchanging amused looks.

"Reo-san. Is he making any progress?"

Ryou might not look like it, but he paid his full attention to all the conversations in this house - a habit of his, especially when the two adults began talking  _about_   _him_ as if he weren't there.

"I'm afraid not. He hasn't spoken a word yet - but Ryou-kun, I believe, does understand us. He's only having trouble communicating back. Don't worry, love. If this continues, I'll book an appointment with a pediatrician."

"Alright..."

"I'm sure he's just shy. Oh! And he did his rolling thing again-"

Ryou listens quietly as the two adults continue to talk about mundane things and sometimes about his refusal to speak ( _he didn't know why. Everyone preferred to be silent. They were the odd ones, not him_ ), all the whilst nibbling on his food and alternatively keeping his eyes on the kitchen's entrance and windows.

* * *

Ryou was completely tensed, muscles pulled taut as he hid behind a tree, out of sight as he swirled his head left to right and back again. His dark eyes were narrowed as he took in his surroundings; at the fresh-looking passerbys, at the pristine buildings, and for any signs of zombies.

However, no matter how long he searches for danger, he could see none. And that should be an  _impossibility_. All he could see were herbivorous children playing with each other, women chattering without showing any signs of hostility, and people parkouring the roofs every so often.

It was eerie.

And Ryou... Ryou was  _spooked_ by the abnormality of it all.

Never before has he seen such a clean city with such healthy-looking people residing in it. There were no corpses or blood littering the streets, the sky wasn't greenish-black, and everyone had  _smiles_  on their faces. It freaks him out.

It was too peaceful.

And from his previous experiences, that was considered a  _bad thing._

Although he found himself doubting reality nowadays more often than not. It has already been  _three_  fucking  _years_  since his reincarnation, yet he has not heard any screaming or warnings about zombies breaking into the neighborhood.

If that wasn't creepy and suspicious, Ryou would eat his own hand. There was just something...  _off_  about this entire place. Was he even on the same planet? If he was, then where were the plagues? Where was the famine? Where was the extreme weather changes? Where were the undead humans and animals? Where was the fucking  _death of it all_?

_Where the fuck was he?!_

And he would find out today. After all, after much effort from his female caretaker ( _he was beginning to hate her more and more_ ), he was finally forced out of the house and to the ' _Uchiha district's playground_ '; wherever that was and whatever that meant.

Usually, Ryou would hide the second she began preparing lunches to leave the house with the little menace. Ryou felt that he was too young to survive any ambushes just yet, so he had made it a habit to disappear from their sights until he was sure it was only his male caretaker and him left in the house.

But just this morning after breakfast, before he could even react, he was swooped into the woman's arms and carried out of the house with the little menace toddling after them.

Currently, his twin was screeching like a banshee with a black-haired boy, chasing each other into exhaustion. Ryou felt exhausted just by  _looking_  at them. So the second he was released, he had dived for the bushes.

Not knowing what else to do, he occasionally scans his surroundings as he exercised his Warmth, preparing to use it at a moment's notice. And that was half an hour ago.

"Ryou-kun..."

At the woman's familiar voice, he turned his gaze at her, waiting expectantly for her orders. When she said nothing further, only staring at him blankly from her place on the benches, he returned to scanning the streets for zombies. As soon as he did, however, he heard her sigh.

"May I know what you are doing, Ryou-kun? Kaa-san worries that something is wrong. You're behaving oddly - more so than usual."

He said nothing.

A herbivore like her wouldn't understand his reasoning. She has no callouses on her palms, no scars, no hard muscles - nothing that painted her as a  _survivor_. Only a  _leech_. And Ryou ( _Liam_ ) loathed leechers.

"Why don't you go play with your sister, Ryou-kun? Look there - she has a friend; his name is Obito-kun. I'm sure the three of you will get along nicely."

Ryou didn't bother looking at where she pointed, which made her already strained smile turn constipated.

After a few more minutes of silence, the woman sighed once again. When she came closer, practically looming over him with her size, and reaches out to carry him, Ryou's mind turned blank. He reacted completely on instincts, his lips curling into a snarl as his eyes flashed with fear.

He may be small, but compared to someone who had not clawed through mountains of corpses for her own survival or even train on a daily basis, he was many times more  _dangerous_.

His Warmth, without his say so, surged through his limbs as he backrolled away from her whilst kicking a leg at her outstretched hand. He would have usually allowed the woman to touch and/or carry him due to this body's young age dependency, but with how high strung his nerves were right now... it was just a bad idea to loom over him.

The many memories of how adults would hit and throw him around whilst  _Liam_  was still a child trying to survive on his own were still vivid to this day. It made him  _defensive_.

The crack of bones breaking followed by pained screaming made him feel calmer. Those sounds were practically his lullaby, something  _finally normal._ The many sleepless nights were exhausting to his young body, but hearing something so  _intimately_   _familiar_  causes his eyes to curve in happy crescents.

He was, for the first time in three years, sleepy because he felt at ease and not because his body demands for it.

However, before he could enjoy this unexpected pleasure, a group of people suddenly landed in a circle around him and his caretaker. They were all tall and menacing, weapons out and ready to kill at a moment's notice. Ryou immediately put his back against a tree's trunk, not wanting anybody to stab him in the back whilst unaware.

Finally, after a moment of stillness with only his female caretaker's pained and heavy breathing, one of the masked carnivores stepped forward and crouched in front of the woman.

"Ma'am. I know a few medical jutsu. Would you allow me to heal your wrist?" The person's voice was obviously altered by some kind of voice modifier. Ryou was instantly preparing for the worse. It was never a good sign when someone made an effort to hide their identity.

"Y-yes," His caretaker wiped her tears and extended a trembling hand at the masked person. They held her offered hand, and much to Ryou's amazement, a green glow appeared. Within minutes, the swelling had reduced in size.

Ryou wonders if that was the result of pushing the Warmth out of the body with intentions to heal. He knew that he could heal himself internally by circulating and concentrating his Warmth to an area, but this made him open his eyes to newer possibilities.

Before Ryou could go into deeper thoughts, the carnivore spoke again, causing Ryou to internally berate himself whilst he discreetly scans the surroundings for escape routes.

Sadly, the masked people had them completely surrounded. He also noticed that the ' _playground_ ' was empty now. Ryou at least hopes that the little menace was kidnapped and made into emergency rations whilst he wasn't paying attention.

"What happened?"

"I-I don't know, ANBU-san. He just- _I don't know_! _"_ Nohara Momo covers her face with her palms and sobbed, "Why are you being so difficult, Ryou-kun? Why did you kick me? Why, why can't you be more  _normal_ like your sister?!"

Again, nothing could be heard but her heavy breathing and wet sobbing. But Ryou could feel eyes on his person. It made him bare his teeth. When the woman saw what he did, she took a step back, her expression familiar. He recognized it from his previous life.

It was the face of someone who was completely  _terrified_  of him.

"Ma'am. We are the KMPF. Please give us your full cooperation and come to the precinct with us."

Ryou blinked.

When he surveys his surroundings again, the masked people were gone, replaced by stoic-looking men with dark hair and eyes. They have similar features to his female caretaker. They all wore the same high-collared uniform and had the symbol of a white and red fan sewed on the back of their clothes.

Nohara Momo exhaled a shuddering breath and automatically reaches for the little menace when one of the stoic men carried Rin over. Ryou was disappointed to see her alive.

Now that he was less tensed, he allows his mind to run through all possible theories as he toddled after the woman, making sure to keep his distance ( _he wasn't sure if she would risk revenge whilst carrying Rin, but he wouldn't chance it. He did, after all, break her wrist. She was now been moved into his 'hostile' category_ ).

He ended up with one conclusion after debating with himself throughout the journey. Ryou had been reincarnated to another earth, planet, or world, and the apocalypse have yet happened judging by the lack of...  _everything_.

_What The Fuck._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ohmigewdness! I am absolutely floored by such positive feedback. Thank you guys so much (灬 ω 灬)! It definitely motivated me to write faster.

Ryou sat, back straight, on the sofa in an office with his limbs loose and ready to be used at a moment's notice. The room was simple and hardly decorated, with only a mahogany desk, bookshelves, and a small seating area where Ryou was at. The owner of the room was smart, not showcasing anything dangerous that could be used as an inconspicuous weapon.

The only other occupant in this room with him - who Ryou assumes was the office's owner - was a broad man with black hair and eyes. The man was stone-faced, wearing the high-collared uniform underneath a green vest of some kind, and seated on a leather chair behind the desk. They were both silent, the man ignoring Ryou's existence in favor of writing whatever down on the papers scattered across the desk.

As he was still unaccustomed to this new world ( _despite Reo's assistance_ ), he was wary of the carnivore who looked strong enough to snap his spine with one pinky, but curious about the writings as well. And this curiosity of his has always been his downfall (he  _literally_  died, after all).

Ryou, unlike the majority of the Pre-Alpha generation, had been illiterate. Shame or embarrassment was not felt for admitting that little bit of weakness about him. Resources had been hard to find, and learning how to read was not exactly a priority back then - there was also no motivation for it.

All of his ( _Liam's_ ) time had been spent on surviving, and nobody cared much about book-smarts to judge him for it.

However, after his reincarnation, Reo has spent a lot of time with him, slowly and patiently teaching him a lot of things about this world ( _still not enough_ ), and one of them was on how to read those weird symbols he calls hiragana, katakana, and kanji.

Despite Ryou's lack of enthusiasm at first, his young brain was like a sponge, absorbing all that he sees and hears at an alarming rate. It allows for him to understand the basics enough to read a simple book unbothered. Now, after a year of lessons, he  _liked_  being able to read. Books were interesting. So he was curious what the stoic-looking man was writing about.

Although he dared not speak about this curiosity of his. The fear of loud noises still haunted his very being, the crippling desire to move as quietly as possible, to never speak louder than a whisper, to not ask questions and avoid social interactions, those things have never actually left his self-persevering innate behavior.

His male caretaker was the only one who understood his desire - always speaking softly and knowing when exactly he needed to be left alone. Hence, Ryou has reluctantly and grudgingly allowed himself to be taught and carried by the man. He knew that his sperm donor would not  _off_  him because he was in the 'harmless' category, but he remains cautious whenever he felt that the man acted too kindly.

As for his female caretaker...  _Heh_. She would no doubt seek his death.

In hindsight, he should not have bitten the hand that fed him just yet ( _stupid fight-or-flight instincts had no off button_ ). Thanks to that tiny mistake of breaking her wrist, Ryou would have to sleep with  _both_  his eyes open from now until he was strong enough to ensure his survival in the house. Even an hour of sleep seemed impossible at this rate.

When patterned knocking was heard from the door, Ryou's whole body tensed as he discreetly shifted until he was mostly hidden behind the pillows of the sofa. In his hand, held in a white-knuckle grip and hidden from view, was a crayon; sharpened and ready for use.

He was prepared for whatever was outside; be they zombies or humans ( _if there were even zombies in the first place_ ). Probably the former, though. No person would be dumb enough to announce their presence and give time for the people inside the room to prepare for a fight.

"Enter," The man called out, which completely  _baffled_  Ryou.

Why did the man announce that they were inside?! Was he eager to die? Or was it customary for the people of this place to knock on doors and wait for the occupants inside to give their permission to enter? If that was so, it was... definitely abnormal and fucking  _dumb_.

Ryou felt that his previous life's customs were much safer - you either blow the doors open and shoot everyone inside or find other entrances that would leave you undiscovered by the occupants.

The person who entered made Ryou, who was beyond tensed, unknowingly breath out a sigh of relief. Despite his vigilance, there were no signs that his male caretaker would harm him at this point in time. If there was one person he could give  _some_  of his trust, it was this man.

But not too much. Trust, or goodwill in general, made one susceptible to manipulation. Ryou has no desire to become a brain-dead idiot.

"Thank you for looking after Ryou-kun for us, Uchiha-san," Reo bowed.

"He has been well behaved," The man, Uchiha, nodded stiffly, "Have you been briefed?"

"Ah, yes. I have. I am deeply sorry for the trouble my son has unintentionally caused. I have also spoken to my wife and we have both agreed to enroll him to the Academy."

"A wise choice. Yamanaka Keinosuke and Nara Chikao are here to evaluate your son. They are waiting at room I-02."

"I understand. I don't mean to impose on your time further, but..."

"Take your time, Nohara-san," Uchiha's dark eyes flickered over to Ryou and back to Reo, "As much as you need." After he said his piece, Uchiha returned to his papers and ignored the two Noharas.

Ryou didn't know what that meant, but he was instantly twice as on guard as before - if that was even possible. As if picking up on his actions, his male caretaker laughed nervously and nodded to Uchiha before crouching in front of Ryou, body language open and inviting, but still at a distance that was out of Ryou's short reach.

"Hello, Ryou-kun. Tou-san and Kaa-san are sorry for making you wait so long on your own. Were you frighten?" The brown-eyed man's voice was soft, almost an unheard whisper in the wind, and mollifying. It brought back the many memories of how others would speak to feral and infected humans... just before they jump in for the kill.

It comforted him enough for Ryou to shake his head to indicate that no, he was not frightened to be left on his own. In fact, he would rather continue to stay  _far_  away from his female caretaker at this point in time - as overly vigilant as it seems to be wary of a single non-survivor.

Fear made people irrational, unpredictable, and dangerous (a cornered zombie was not to be underestimated). And he had seen her eyes (full of emotions that left Ryou cautious) before they parted. She would definitely be treating him differently back at the house. Ryou made a mental note to always remain near his male caretaker whenever they were all in the same room for meals.

**_[POV Change]_ **

"That's good. You've always been a strong boy, Ryou-kun. Tou-san is very proud of you. If it is alright, do you mind if I come closer?" Reo asked carefully, making sure to sound as soothing and steadily as possible - not wanting to stress his boy further. He knew that Ryou was sensitive to loud noises, therefore he always did his best to speak as softly as possible.

When Reo saw his son pout, eyebrows furrowed at the question, he so badly wanted to squeal at the  _sheer adorableness_ of it all. The only reason he refrained from doing so was because he was in public and he knew that this wasn't the time for his goofy antics to appear.

It took longer for the toddler to respond, but when he was given a jerky nod, Reo almost sagged in relief. At least he wasn't shut out from the get-go.

Reo smiled disarmingly as he shifted forward until he was crouching just in front of his precious son, making sure that he wasn't towering over the three-year-old and his hands were in view.

Despite the Uchiha officer's seemingly lack of attention, he knew that the Uchiha had his entire focus on them due to there being a sharpened crayon hidden in his boy's right-hand. This information was made known to him by the guard outside, but he wasn't worried. Reo was confident that Ryou would not attack him without a justifiable cause.

As for how he actually got his small hands on a weaponized crayon... That left Reo baffled. The crayons he gifted his son were blunt like any other. For the little guy to actually sharpen them without Momo or him realizing... Now that was incredible. Little Ryou was definitely a shinobi in-the-making (and Reo was so damn proud!).

His wife and he may be civilians, but he originally hailed from a small clan full of medic-nins, and at the same time, Momo came from a well respected and famous clan. And whilst his gentle wife shied away from any ninja training due to her pacifistic nature, Reo's dream has always been to become a renown author despite his initial training as a medic.

Many other civilians might be appalled at allowing their toddlers to attend the Adacemy, especially during war times, but Reo was brought up in a shinobi household. Hence, he knew that children with an active chakra network were more... mentally developed. If left untrained, they would do more harm than good - unintentionally breaking Momo's wrist was just the start.

So Reo, knowing that his son was by far smarter than most 3-year-olds, conversed as if he was talking to a mini-adult who was still in mid-process of learning the norms of their culture.

"Thank you. How are you feeling, son?" At his scrunched up nose, Reo chuckled, "Yes, it's understandable that you're uncomfortable here. I know that you'd rather be in your room or nests. We can do just that soon, of course, but first, Tou-san wants to take you to another room for a short while. It's to meet two kind men; Yamanaka-san and Nara-san. Can you endure being outside the house for a little while longer, Ryou-kun?"

Ryou sighed tiredly, sounding more like a long-suffering adult than a kid. Reo took that as a sign of agreement and brought up a hand, but not really closing the distance.

"Can Tou-san touch you, Ryou-kun?" When Ryou's shoulder tensed, Reo soothingly continued, "Just for a hug. Tou-san will never willingly hurt you - you're safe with me, Ryou-kun. I promise. Tou-san just wants to ruffle your hair, wrap you in a hug, and give you many, many,  _many_  sloppy kisses on your cheeks. Like how I always do before meals-"

Before Reo could continue his embarrassing words, his little boy brought up a hand - the one that was not holding the weaponized crayon - and smacked Reo's lips, his eyebrows furrowed into a petulant scowl. Reo only chuckled, his smile widening into a grin.

"No kiss," Ryou sullenly murmured, his voice hoarse from disuse and almost inaudible. Reo was pleasantly surprised his son even bothered to talk at all. The last time he heard his precious son's voice was about (give or take) two years ago.

"Alright," He ruffled his son's hair and nodded with as much seriousness as he could muster right now (whilst holding back his laughter), "No kisses today. Can Tou-san kiss your adorable face tomorrow?"

His son refused his request by glaring ( _pouting_ ) at him, his lower lip jutting out into an adorable glower.

"Please?" He pleaded with puppy-dog eyes whilst slowly pulling his son into his arms.

Without a change of expression, the toddler swatted him on the lips again in a show of rejection, albeit half-hearted if the slight softening of his boy's eyes were telling. Reo decided to try once more, and if he was still denied, he would back out for now.

"Aww... But kisses are Tou-san's favorite action to show you that I love you~ Ryou-kun does know that Tou-san loves you, right? I love you so very much~"

Having successfully brought his son close enough, he lifted the toddler onto his hip and walked slowly to the door, all the whilst ignoring the Uchiha's penetrating gaze, more focused on Ryou. The toddler's expression was blank, and it almost made Reo worry that he had made his boy retreat back into that shell of his.

But unexpectedly, red started to bloom on his son's chubby cheeks, the clan markings doing nothing to hide the adorable flush. Reo was rueful that he did not have a camera on hand to take a photo of his boy's first blush. He made do with burning this beautiful moment into his memory.

"... Hn."

"Was that a yes 'hn' I can smother you with my kisses or a no 'hn'?"

When Ryou looked away, the tips of his ears a cute shade of pink, Reo decided that it was the former. It made him laugh joyfully as he reached for the doorknob.

Just before he left, however, he heard the Uchiha's murmur.

"You did well for a civilian, Reo-san. I'm impressed."

Other than bowing one last time to his wife's cousin, he acted as if he had not heard the man's praise. It was expected for a parent to know their child inside and out, after all.

* * *

To Ryou's great relief, the meeting with the two omnivores was short. The second his male caretaker had placed him on the ground upon reaching the house, he sped off towards  _his_  cupboard under the stairs, climbed inside, and hid within the sanctuary of glorified darkness and the nostalgic smell of mildew.

The sight and smell alleviated Ryou's taut muscles ( _the only thing missing was the constant howls of zombie animals, the growling of humanoid zombies, and the scent of decaying flesh_ ). They reminded him of very much of his previous life; the dark sky with no stars, the air too heavily polluted to see or breath anything but smog, and the emptiness of life. He was so used to such things that the clear air, the starry night sky, and the noisiness of humans left him feeling uncomfortable.

He preferred being on his own, always prowling at night and keeping well out of anyone's way. Solitude was a beautiful thing he dearly  _missed_.

He didn't know how long he stayed inside his cupboard, but it was enough for his muscles to finally lose all tension as he hugged himself, the abyss feeling so much like  _home_  it hurt. Ryou didn't realize his breathing had evened out and he had fallen asleep due to  _comfort_  and not  _exhaustion_.

...

_An adult male, about twenty-five years old, was sitting idly on a windowsill, humming softly under his breath as he enjoyed the biting breeze of the open window, not at all minding how the heavy air was constricting his lungs and tearing his body from the inside out._

_There were puddles of blood, smashed viscera, and decomposing, maggot-filled corpses littering the floor, the soles of his boots covered in filth so thick not even the acid raindrops were able to wash them off. Liam's slender and blood-caked fingers were tapping lightly against the broken glass of the window, enjoying his solitude whilst aimlessly wondering what his next destination should be._

_There were three options for him to choose from._

_A Fort that was a couple of miles from his exact location, a hospital just a few blocks away, and a junkyard just a mile short from the Fort._

_The Fort would be a great place to trade in some of his wares, but the attention he would receive from some of the old fogeys would put a damper on his good mood. As for the hospital, it would be great if he could find some medical supplies to carry on his person. However, the building would undoubtedly be crawling with undead, and that would outweigh the benefits if the building had been stripped clean._

The junkyard it was, _he nodded to himself. Liam would definitely be able to find some useful scraps there._

_With a relaxed sigh, he jumped from the window and landed on the first floor with a soft thump, a muffled squeal coming from underneath his boots as he grounded the zombie rat's skull with nonchalance._

_Liam ignored the crunching sounds of bones breaking with every step he took, his heavy boots giving him adequate protection from their protruding bones and nibbling fangs as he navigates through the infested hallways._

_As the wind howled loudly through the many broken windows and doors, his half-lidded eyes remained on the pitch black sky which could be seen through the broken ceilings and rooftop, a bloody katana in one hand and a pungent smelling barbwire bat in the other._

_"Aa, how peaceful," he breathed out almost inaudibly as he raised his blade and severed the head of an incoming baby-Z, his lips curling upwards at the tranquillity, not at all minding the cold blood and chunky bits that splattered against his clothed chest._

...

A sharp exhale left his lips as his body went from relaxed to alert within a split second of the cupboard door's opening. At the sight of a person in his 'hostile' category, he gripped his sharpened crayon tighter, his eyes focused on her body language, facial expression, and twitchy hands for any sign of an incoming attack.

Unexpectedly, when her eyes adapted to the dark, they widened as she took a hurried step back, hands in front of her as if  _she_  was the one preparing to intercept an attack from  _him_. Ryou tilted his head in bafflement, but other than that, he kept absolutely still.

"R-Ryou-san," She cleared her throat and gave him some sort of smile that had him retreat further into the darkness. When half a minute passed without him giving any sign of responding, she cleared her throat again before speaking, "I need to get something inside. Can you find another place to... do whatever it is you're now doing?"

He kept his silence for a few more moments before he nodded slowly to her words. Wary of her limbs, he moves forward with careful steps, feeling slight relief when she matches him by moving backward, and slipped out of the cupboard before speeding off to the dining area - where he felt his male caretaker's Warmth.

Reo didn't seem to mind when Ryou dived under his chair. The man only placed a picture book on the floor and left Ryou to do whatever he wanted with it, half his attention was on teaching his daughter how to recognize the alphabets whilst the other half made sure to keep track of his easily restless son.

With an inaudible sigh, Ryou hugged the picture book to his chest - not caring that it was half his size - and flipped to the page he had previously left off. Within a quarter of an hour, his body finally deemed it safe enough for his heart rate to slowly return to its normal rhythm and his adrenaline to be flushed out of his system.

It seems he would be able to live to another day unharmed.

* * *

"Remember all your lessons, Ryou-kun - and listen to your sensei," His male caretaker fussed ( _albeit in a hushed whisper_ ) as he caresses Ryou's chestnut brown hair. Ryou stood still and allowed it, not minding the man as he was too busy taking in his surroundings, wincing once in a while when a tiny herbivore screeched too loudly for his taste.

Currently, Reo was standing just outside a building called the ' _Academy_ ', wearing an all-black tee, shorts with leggings underneath, and a pair of open-toed sandals (which made him  _very_  uncomfortable. He preferred combat boots that would prevent his toes from getting  _frostbites_ ). He had wanted to take along his Bug Out Bag with him, but Reo had replaced his survival kit with a small backpack filled with notebooks and stationery despite the glares he delivered to the man.

There were a lot of noisy children and flustered adults all around the courtyard, but, for the first time, he temporarily didn't mind being in a crowded location that much. After all, he was finally going to experience this something called  _school_. It was an exciting prospect as much as a nerve-wracking one.

Despite knowing that this new world had not experienced the apocalypse ( _yet_ ), he had never expected to have to actually go to school. Their trip to the Academy was a tensed one, with Ryou constantly looking over his shoulder, wary of any zombies popping out to eat him whilst he was still a weak child... and then remembering that this was a new world without zombies.

It was a repeated cycle that he couldn't seem to break out of, but Ryou has always been somewhat adaptable. Sooner or later, he would learn to accept his new life sans zombies.

"Tou-san is very proud of you, Ryou-kun. I want to give you something. Will you accept my gift, please?"

At the pitiful look that many of the old fogeys named 'the dreaded puppy dog eyes', Ryou gave a muted nod as he extends his hands forward, eyeing the man warily for any deception. The last time he was given a gift (other than the crayons), he ( _Liam_ ) was tied up in a warehouse and bleeding from the hole in his stomach.

His female caretaker was behind the man, in her arms was an overly excited little pest that wouldn't stop asking irritating and whiny questions ( _and drooling_ ). She didn't look at him, not once in their entire journey to the Academy, only focusing on her female spawn ( _despite being an atheist, he thanked fucking god for that_ ).

When his hands were bundled into a pair of warm, fingerless brown mittens, Ryou blinked stupidly for a couple of seconds, his fingers idly stroking the wooly texture. It felt soothing enough that his muscles uncoiled gradually with every stroke his fingers made.

Before he could react to anything else, big, warm hands covered his pudgy, tiny ones. Ryou stared blankly into his male caretaker's smiling eyes, the brown orbs filled with an unknown emotion that made his heart feel as if it were floating.

"I heard from one of my cousins that this might help you feel more comfortable. If the loudness is too much, you can use them to cover your ears or rub them with your fingers or anything else that you think might help. Will you wear my gift, Ryou-kun? It'll make papa really happy if you accept it."

After a moment of hesitation, he nodded. The mittens weren't restrictive and they didn't feel too hot on his hands. Besides, he was quite used to wearing hand protection against mutated zombies.

Following that, he was carried by his male caretaker to a hall filled with chairs. The matriculation ceremony went with Ryou paying close attention to the speaker's words. Apparently, the Academy was a military school that taught and trained snot-nosed brats into becoming  _soldiers_. A transition from a herbivore to a carnivore.

For one, Ryou was filled with appreciation for his male caretaker. The man had pushed Ryou into a direction that would benefit him greatly, that would make him  _strong_. He disliked the idea of being in a class filled with six-year-olds, but he couldn't be picky with his choice of classmates.

The strong ruled over the weak. And now, currently, Ryou's body was  _weak_. Thus, he would follow the orders of the strong until he himself was strong enough to overrule their commands.

With a carefully crafted expression of blankness, he follows the flock of students to their respective classes, making sure to move as far from them as possible, and sat at the backmost seat near the window. It gave the most vantage point and easily accessible routes of escape. Furthermore, he was left on his own to enjoy what little solitude he has on his lonesome ( _despite the irritating noise level_ ).

When the military sensei came in, introduced himself, and began the introduction of what was expected of them, as well as the requirements of what has to be met in order to become a  _shinobi_  or  _kunoichi_ , Ryou listens attentively, his young mind absorbing everything he was freely given.

By the end of the day, however, Ryou came to  _loathe_ school, a place which only contained yelling and crying children who lacked focus, forcing their sensei to repeat his lectures _over and over_  again. Especially that one subject called maths. Whoever it was that invented such a torturous thing was definitely a sadist.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just to clarify some things:
> 
> 1\. Ryou doesn't know anything about the anime Naruto. He was too young to even remember his first set of parents, so why would he remember cartoons? ლ(•ω •ლ)
> 
> 2\. The apocalypse happened when he was 5 years old, and he died when he was 25 years old.
> 
> 3\. In my story, I'm making Ryou, Rin, and Obito 2 years older than Kakashi. Normal children during war times will attend the Academy at 6 and graduate at 9. Kakashi attends at 4 and takes 1 year to graduate due to being a prodigy, meaning he'll be genin at 5 years of age.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would sincerely like to give my gratitude to all of you who have provided me with generous feedbacks and supports. Your positive reviews are truly a blessing to any author's heart m(；∇；)m! Without you guys, I would not have the courage to update my works. So, really, thank you!

 

Ryou attentively scrutinized the two strangers from his seat on the couch, legs curled against his chest and chin resting atop mitten-clad small hands which were holding onto his knees. A dark-haired child with orange goggles was in his house, playing with Rin, and the boy's grandmother was sitting on the floor with them.

There were building blocks scattered everywhere around the trio, smiles on their faces and laughter leaving their lips ever so often.

The only reason why Ryou was here with them in the living room and not exercising seclusion at one of his safe spots was due to Reo's instruction.

Ryou was told to remain with Uchiha Kanna -  _the old lady_  - until Reo came back. As both his caretakers were out of the house ( _something about an annulment_ ), they left Ryou and Rin's protection to this old woman who looked ready to keel over and die any second from now.

Ryou was skeptical at best, but he knew better than to judge someone by sight alone.

Elderly persons, despite being a rarity in his previous life, were one of the shrewdest people he has ever gotten the displeasure of knowing. Their schemes were foul, their wisdom was shrewd, and their fragile appearances were deceiving.

Despite how nerve-wracking it was to be in the same room with one of them oldies... he constantly reminds himself that this world has yet to experience the zombie apocalypse. Hence, he did his best to calm his inclination to flee the area. Two decades worth of survival instincts, however, could not be discarded with the snap of a finger.

Although there were no zombies prancing all over the place, there were still human beings in this world. And from what he has learned ( _the hard way_ ) from his life as Liam; the majority of humanity simply  _could not_  be trusted no matter how much he sometimes aches for solace.

Truthfully, he would rather face off against a horde of them rotten bastards than remain in the presence of malicious tricksters.

"Are you alright there all on your own, Ryou-kun? Do you want to join us? We could always use another pair of hands at building this castle."

Ryou's eyes flickered onto the elderly woman's seated form.

Not wanting to display his vulnerability, he held back a shudder and glared defiantly at the old lady who smiled with far too many teeth on display - similar to a zombie that was ready to pounce on unsuspecting fresh meat.

Her words, unfortunately, attracted the attention of the two hyperactive kids ( _perhaps that was her goal in the first place? As expected from an elder - they were all filled with malicious intentions. He mentally moves her from the 'undetermined' category to the 'hostile' category_ ). His twin, Rin, was instantly on her feet, toddling towards him with a  _predatory_  grin on her face.

Ryou was instantly on guard, muscles bunching as he prepared to  _move_ at the slightest notion of an attack.

Before the creature that was wearing the skin of a little girl could manage to climb onto  _his_  couch, she was lifted by the old lady and situated on the rather brittle-looking hip, causing Ryou to loosen his taut muscles ever so slightly.

"Actually, I am feeling a little peckish right now. Who wants lunch?"

The two kids immediately started to yap, rushed words leaving their drool-covered lips as the boy ( _Uchiha Obito, undetermined category,_ Ryou's mind helpfully supplied) followed behind his grandmother who was heading towards the kitchen with Rin still in her arms. Ryou hesitated to follow, but ended up shadowing them at a safe distance when he recalls Reo's words to stick close to Uchiha Kanna.

"Would you adorable dearies like cheese toasties or octopus sausages?" Kanna asked after she deposited Rin on one of the dining chairs.

The girl knelt on her seat and placed her elbows on the table. Obito, on the other hand, obediently sat next to her, his legs swinging back and forth in the air. Ryou didn't pause when he took the furthest seat from the duo, hunching his shoulders to appear as small and invisible as possible.

"Cheese toastie!" The two chimed eagerly.

When the old lady faced him expectantly, Ryou resisted the urge to bolt out of the kitchen. He ended up murmuring unintelligible words that Kanna took as 'toasties', all the while fiddling with his mittens.

"Coming right up," Kanna donned an apron before she took out a loaf of bread, a packet of cheese, and a frying pan from the cupboards. She then made herself busy, but still kept a watchful eye on the three three-year-olds.

"Hey, hey! Is what Rin-chan say true?" The Uchiha boy leaned his upper body on the table as he stared curiously at Ryou, those jet black eyes unmoving from his form, "That Ryou-kun go Academy and be ninja?"

Ryou gave an assessing look at the herbivore even as he nodded. Although Obito's grammar could use some work, the words spoken were understandable enough.

"That's so  _cool_!" Obito whooped. If it wasn't for the old lady's warning glare, Ryou felt that Obito would be crawling towards him like those types of Crawler-Zs. Ryou hid a shudder at that creepy mental image.

"Ryou-nii smart," Rin was grinning whilst bobbing her head frantically, "Tou-chan says so."

"I wanna be a ninja too!"

"Rin too!"

Then they both started to blabber about all the imaginary 'cool' things ninjas would do on missions - like saving damsels in distress, bringing forth world peace, and other nonsensical shites that Ryou couldn't begin to fathom.

As he discreetly observes his twin and the boy, he made sure to study their facial expressions and body language to try and later imitate when he was on his own. Standing out was not something he wanted to do ( _despite the possibility that it may already be far too late to revise his outward personality. A carnivore could never truly go back to being a herbivore, only an omnivore_ ).

Although he couldn't, even in his own head, imagine acting like them; smiling and laughing as if there was no danger to be wary of.

Something to ponder on, he supposes. For now, he was just glad no other questions were directed at him.

* * *

In just two years, Ryou, now five-years-old, experienced many changes in his second life.

First and foremost; he has finally adapted to a life without them rotten bastards. Sure, he still avoids crowded areas and loathes loud noises and was overly-suspicious of everybody who smiles at him, but those were ingrained deep into his very soul. Something he was sure he could not change regardless of time.

The second change was his family situation. Ryou was glad that his caretakers decided to separate. He didn't care much about the reasoning behind their action, he was just joyful that his egg-doner kept his twin whilst Reo took him back to the Nohara clan compound.

The only problem he has was that Reo would often than not drag him along whenever the man went out to spend time with Rin - which meant that Uchiha Obito would be there as well - every weekend ( _something about visitation rights_ ), hence his secret wish that Rin would slowly but surely forget about having a twin brother was discarded.  _For now._

Other than that tiny issue, Ryou found contentment with Reo as his only caretaker in this two bedroom house. Although he still doubted the man's motives once in a while, Ryou knew for a fact that he would not be used as emergency ration or bait since they have plenty of resources.

Furthermore, after attending military school, Ryou knew that Reo would not stand a chance against him in a one-on-one fight. Hence, he did not have to be on guard as often as he has been during his period of dependency.

Despite the assurance that Reo could not fight back, however, Ryou would sometimes feel a squeezing sensation in his chest, a constriction in his lungs, and a nauseating warmth radiating from his gut, whenever Reo smiles at him or hugs him or peppers his face with kisses.

Ryou didn't know when he had fallen ill or was poisoned/cursed, but regardless of the man's lack of physical strength, Reo was dangerous with that unknown sorcery of his. To be able to make Ryou's body rebel in such a manner whenever the man desired... was a scary notion. That was why he upgraded Reo into becoming an omnivore.

But, enough of that.

The final change was his school life. It was mentally draining, of course, but if he ignored the theoretical side of the Academy (as well as the noisy students and annoying teachers attending the school with him), he found it pleasant. To feel his body slowly regaining the former strength of his first life was exhilarating.

When Ryou included chakra - previously dubbed Warmth by a younger him - into his repertoire, he discovered that he could bench press Reo rather easily. And due to how often he uses it (as someone who has lived through life without chakra, this energy was  _intriguing_ ), it became second nature for him to infuse his muscles with chakra, giving him the endurance, speed, and strength that adults would envy.

However, there was a time limit for this trick of his.

It was unfortunate when he learned that his chakra reserves were considered to be on the smaller side, but Ryou wasn't interested in knowing about the 'whys', as he already knew that all humans were born unequal. Some had chakra reserves that were like waterfalls, whilst others had ponds. That was just how the world works. Hence, Ryou didn't complain. He worked with what he has.

Due to his true age and advanced ( _abnormal_ ) mentality, he was moved to the graduating class soon after school began. Ryou aced the practical side of the examinations, moreover, he broke all the records whilst he was at it. Still, he was held back another year after an evaluation was conducted.

Regrettably, it was due to his illegible handwriting and low theoretical scores.

The principal was devastated and made him attend after-school classes to brush up on his worldly knowledge. Regardless of how much of a 'fighting prodigy' he was, they couldn't allow him to pass if he could not write decently enough for them to read his future legal documentation... and it would be awkward if he mixes up the countries and hidden villages.

Thence, after a year worth of Reo's tutoring and calligraphy lessons, Ryou was finally able to attain a decent enough mark to pass his written exams. When all of his test scores were combined, his overall  _barely_  made it over 50%. But a pass was indeed a pass.

Reo's smile when he received Ryou's result made his chest squeeze painfully. But it was a good sort of pain. Somehow. Was he slowly turning a masochist...?

 _Anyway_ , his sole caretaker then took him on a shopping spree; buying shinobi supplies and durable clothing for him to wear. It was something of a tradition for newly graduated Academy students to change into a brand new outfit, Ryou came to learn.

After buying all that they were required to buy, they went to a restaurant called Yakiniku Q to celebrate Ryou's graduation. Although the meat there was top quality, Ryou still consumed what was considered his normal portion no matter Reo's insistence that he ate more. Sadly, the dessert tempted him too much and he was down with indigestion from the number of cake slices he ingested.

Sleep didn't come easy that night.

The team assignment came the very next morning.

As soon as he arrives at his designated classroom, Ryou seated himself at his usual seat at the far most back; a shadowed corner that hides his small stature and allows for him to observe the room's exits and occupants simultaneously.

He was also wearing his new outfit that consists of a black form-fitted sleeveless turtleneck with cut-resistant armguards, a pair of camo pattern shorts, and standard shinobi sandals.

His two storage pouches were buckled around his hip, positioned at the small of his back, and his kunai holster was strapped around his right thigh. The most important article in his attire, the Konohagakure hitai-ate, was tied around his forehead, the cloth black in color.

Apart from his pair of brown fingerless mittens, he looked like your average genin.

Ryou allowed his presence to face into the background when his noisy year-mates began trickling into the classroom, words of congratulations and praises leaving their lips. They all vary in age, with the oldest being twelve and the youngest nine. Ryou was the sole exception, the only five-year-old present.

As a person who hated standing out, he made sure to sink lower into his seat.

"Alright maggots, back to your seats!" The chuunin omnivore barked, his rugged and scarred features scaring the children into obedience, "Congratulations, you're all genin now, yadda yadda yadda. You get the gist. Now onto the important bit: I'm going to announce your team so pay close attention. Team-"

One by one, the names of the graduates were called and placed into a team with two others and a jounin sensei. The reactions of the new genin teams were pretty agreeable, as most of them were already close or already know enough about the other two due to being classmates.

"-and lastly, Team 17; Uchiha Kazuo, Tanaka Takai, and Hyuuga Hikari. Your jounin sensei will be Shun Takuma."

Ryou blinked. His name had not been called, but that was already the last genin cell. He pondered if he should raise his hand and call attention to himself, or should he wait outside for Sato-sensei and demand an explanation. Before he could make up his mind, he looked up when he felt eyes on his person.

"Nohara Ryou. You'll be apprenticing under Hatake Sakumo. He will be waiting for you at this location," Sato-sensei, without any warning, threw a kunai at him.

Ryou, being a person who was always prepared for any sudden attacks, reacted instantaneously by plucking the weapon from the air just before it could lodge itself into his skull.

After warily confirming that Sato-sensei would not be throwing any more pointy projectiles at him, Ryou looked down to study the kunai, conveniently avoiding the firey stares of his year-mates at the same time. There was a note tied at its hilt.

"Everyone else is expected to remain here until your jounin senseis come to collect you. I wish all of you the best of luck in your shinobi careers."

Ryou was out of the classroom even before Sato-sensei has ended his 'speech'. Although he was slightly curious why he was left out of the usual four-persons genin team, he didn't look a gift horse in the mouth. Ryou has always been a lonewolf, so he preferred this abnormal arrangement to its normal counterpart.

With suspicious eyes, Ryou cautiously performed an inspection on the note, looking for poisons and the likes, before he was confident enough to unfold the rectangular paper. On it was a single address.

Idly, as Ryou made his way to the location, he wondered what kind of person his jounin sensei was. And which categories he would have to put them into.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MWEHEHEHEHE! Hope that this chapter has been an enjoyable read ＼\٩( 'ω' )و /／! Please, do not hesitate to tell me your thoughts (●o'∪`o)ノ
> 
> I'm seriously sorry if anyone was looking forward to the Academy drama, but as you can see, I'm not good at writing the personalities and behaviors of kids. So~ Look forward to Ryou-tan's action-packed shinobi life (*・∀-)!


	4. Chapter 4

Sakumo stood rigidly in front of his Hokage's mahogany desk, stiff in the face as the older shinobi abruptly announced that he was to be demoted-  _ahem_ , appointed as a sensei for a young and newly graduated genin. Sakumo felt that the intentions behind this order were downright shoddy as he was better placed for border skirmishes than being rostered inside the village.

Hence, with persuasions and denials at the forefront of his mind, he parted his lips. Just as the words were on the tip of his tongue, ready to be regurgitated, they were swallowed back into his throat by the Sandaime Hokage's sharp and expected gaze.

Sakumo deflated, shoulders slumped in reluctant acceptance. He knew that once Hiruzen had that look in his eyes, no amount of arguing would work. Even if it was for a legitimate cause and reason.

Although wholly unwilling to be responsible over a new-grad, it did, however, poke at Sakumo's curiosity.

Why was  _Sakumo_  the one selected for this amongst many others who could do better?

He never stays in the village for long, even with a 3-year-old toddler waiting for him at home ( _he pushes down the guilt and compartmentalizes, knowing that he was an absent father and loathes that he could not do anything to change that_ ).

Currently, the only reason why he was in the village at this point in time was due to the injuries he was afflicted with from an ambush ( _a few stabs and burns at the abdominal region that required surgery and rest_ ). After he recovers enough to know that his wounds would not limit his mobility, he would be back at the front lines with the snap of a finger.

However, by giving him an apprentice, it could only mean one of the 3 things.

One, Sakumo would be pulled out of the frontlines for whatever reasons for an undisclosed duration. Two, this new apprentice of his was not suitable to be inside the normal genin cell program. Or Three, this particular graduate has the potential to be sent to the front lines as soon as Sakumo's injuries were healed.

One did not seem to be the case, as Sakumo, who was one of the strongest shinobi Konoha has to offer, was needed in the upcoming war against the other hidden villages. Two was a possibility. Three, however, was the most likely scenario.

When Sakumo was handed a manila folder with the word CONFIDENTIAL stamped at the front, he hesitated for a split second before reading the documents inside. What caught his immediate attention was the genin's photo. He was startled by how young the boy in the picture was.

"Is this an updated photo?" Sakumo couldn't help but wonder out loud, eyes locking with his leader's. Hiruzen answered only after taking a long drag of his pipe.

"Taken just a week ago."

Inwardly, Sakumo rolled his eyes at his leader's dramatics. Outwardly, however, he nodded and returned to studying the photo.

The boy, Nohara Ryou, appeared to be an extremely adorable little guy, what with his fluffy brown hair flying everywhere, plump cheeks, and delicate features. If the Hokage himself did not give this folder to him, Sakumo would have believed that this was all an elaborate prank ( _the kid was tiny_!).

Not wanting to focus solely on the kid's outer appearance as looks can be deceiving, Sakumo turned his eyes away from the young face and began skimming through the kid's bio.

 _**Name:** _  
_Nohara Ryou_

 **_Rank:_ **  
_Genin (assigned to Jounin Hatake Sakumo)_

 **_Sex:_ **  
_Male_

 **_Age:_ **  
_5_

 **_DOB:_ **  
_15 November_

 **_Height:_ **  
_94cm_

 ** _Immediate Family Members(s):_**  
_Nohara Ren (Father)_  
_Nohara Momo_   _(Mother)_  
_Nohara Rin (Twin sister)_

 **_Known Associate(s):_ **  
_Uchiha Obito (Playmate)_  
_Uchiha Kana (Former babysitter)_

 **_Academic Results:_ **  
_Written - 50.5%_  
_Taijutsu - 100%_  
_Ninjutsu - 100%_  
_Genjutsu - 100%  
_

**_Personality:_ **  
_Antisocial_  
_Quiet_  
_Skittish_  
_Extremely paranoid_

 **_History:_ **  
_Active chakra at 2 years old, as noted by father._  
_Brought to the KMPF at 3 years old for unintentional chakra usage against mother. Parents both agreed to enroll Nohara Ryou early into the Academy.  
Seeing Yamanaka Inoue weekly for counseling._

_...  
_

**_Observations:_**  
...  
...

 **_Special Notice:_ **  
_...  
..._

The more he read, the more perturbed he became.

There were _a lot_  of notes and observations made by Ryou's teachers in the Academy, but they were  _assumptions_  at best because the boy tended to ignore conversations - which meant Sakumo could not trust them at face value ( _he would also need to request Yamanaka Inoue for her notes on the boy_ ).

There was neglect, poor upbringing, abuse, and all sorts of other speculations about Ryou's home life and why he acts in a way that veteran shinobi would normally behave after many exposures to trauma.

Although he wasn't one to believe rumors without confirming facts, Sakumo, too, felt the need to check up on the boy's family to set his mind at ease. With these many reports, Sakumo would not brush it off just in case Ryou was acting out as a silent plea for help.

Anyway, other than the boy's concerning home situation and anti-social personality, all his teachers praised him for his talent in combat.

Reflex, strategy, concentration, accuracy,  _everything_  was praised to the high heavens. The boy was said to be a combat prodigy; as if he was born in the wrong year, as if he should have been someone born from the warring clan eras.

After thinking for a few moments, Sakumo decided that he  _needed_  to confirm everything for himself, his entire mind burning with curiosity at this tiny genius ( _could he be compared to Kakashi?_ ). He has always placed his trust on his own observation skills rather than reviews written on paper. Comrades from the same village they may be, but from his own experience, a healthy dose of suspicion was always best.

' _Coincidentally_ ', today was also the day before the graduates were asked to attend their team placements. How fortunate ( _note his sarcasm_ ).

Saluting to his Hokage, he left to stalk- _ahem_ , he left to gather information about Nohara Rin. Fortunately, the day was just beginning ( _no wonder Hiruzen summoned him so early into the morning_ ) and he would be able to witness the day-to-day life of his new student.

Sakumo gave the address one final look before he sealed the entire folder and slipped the scroll into his pouch.

Fifteen minutes later, he landed on Ryou's roof with the grace and silence of a panther, unseen and unheard by all. Although the boy's house was located inside of the Nohara clan's compound, the majority of his clansmen were medic-nins who were at most chuunin in rank whilst the rest were oblivious civilians.

Hence, Sakumo's presence went unnoticed.

He mentally notes to report this to Hiruzen, as skilled medics like the Noharas could be specifically targeted by their enemies in order to cripple their hospital forces. Rostering an ANBU squad should not be a problem – or if it was, including more patrol around the clan's compound would ensure a higher percentage of their safety. Better than nothing.

Nonchalantly, Sakumo sneaked into the boy's room and made his way to the kitchen, where the sound of human activity was the loudest. The first person he took note of was Nohara Ren. The boy's father had his back facing Sakumo, and was dancing about the kitchen, humming whilst he cooked brekky for the family of two.

This serene picture somewhat gave him a sense of deja vu – but with  _Sakumo_  the one doing the prancing and his own son tugging at his pants for him to hurry up. He quickly pushed the happy memory aside and went back into mission mode. This was not the time to reminiscence.

It took Sakumo two seconds to notice Ryou, who was tucked at the far most seat at the dining table, away from the stove. Sakumo was pleasantly surprised and impressed by this.

A newly graduated genin who knew how to conceal his own presence and suppress his own chakra was a rare find. This would mean that said genin would make an excellent assassin or medic-nin, as both specialties require delicate chakra control and manipulation.

Sakumo knew how to train a mini-ANBU, but to train a combat medic was not something he could do ( _and he couldn't just chuck the boy into the hospital program, as the Hokage clearly wanted Ryou out on the field_ ). He would have to have a wait-and-see approach to sort Ryou's future path.

Sakumo was soon brought out from his train of thoughts when Reo placed a plate in front of Ryou. The portion was tiny when he compared it to Kakashi's. When he checked Reo's body language and facial expression, however, he relaxed his tensed muscles.

Reo  _clearly_  loves his son.

This meant that the small portion could only be due to the boy's poor appetite in the morning. Sakumo would need to rectify that in the future. Shinobi like them needed an insane number of calories to burn – all due to the heavy activities and training they do.

 _Anyway_ , compared to Ren's cheery aura, Ryou was covered in an aura that screams ' _stay way_ '. The boy was expressionless as he ate, giving no outward signs that he was even acknowledging Ren's one-sided conversation.

Sakumo had to commend Ren's patience for that. Not many civilian parents could cope with children who became eccentric due to early activation of chakra. Most of the time it was because they become more mature and lose their childhood in the process.

Chakra was a double-edged sword.

It was not well known to civilians, but the more talented a shinobi was, the more peculiar their personalities would turn out to be. The majority of his colleagues all have shitty childhoods and more shitty adult lives thanks to the tension of an upcoming war.

Jounins were the prime examples, as the more they were assigned to higher ranked missions, the more bizarre they become due to unhealthy coping methods. Clearly, Ryou was one of the more extreme cases. Sakumo feels that being friends with another abnormal child ( _Kakashi, as heartbroken as it was for him to admit that about his own son_ ) might benefit this student of his in the long run.

With a ghost-like presence, Sakumo follows after the father-son pair for the whole day, watching as the silly father constantly tries his best to smother his son with affection and the son trying his best to remain unapproachable, but was unable to deny any of his father's requests. It was amusing as it was adorable. Sakumo might even refer to Ryou as a tsundere from now on.

By the end of the day, Sakumo returned home and mentally promises to be a better father to his son, just like Ren.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah, my apologies for the late update (´ж｀;). It slipped my mind to inform the readers that I would be going for a rural clinical placement for an entire month! But, no worries, I'm back now! Though I'll have to do a lot of catching up uni work after this…_φ(･ω･` )
> 
> Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed Sakumo's interlude ( ﾟ▽ﾟ)/! I'm not really sure about Sakumo's personality due to the lack of screen time he has, but I know that he's a loyal man. Oh, and an absent father. Probably because he's such a badass ninja. I respect the man for putting his comrades above the missions, but I'm also kinda pissed off at him for abandoning Kakashi via suicide.
> 
> Next up, a formal meeting between teacher and student!


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou's jounin-sensei is a dangerous man.

Ryou's silhouette could only be partially seen from between the tall, thick trees of Konoha as he stood at a safe distance from the Hatake house, his pair of chocolate brown eyes attentively scanning the area for any dangers that might bring harm upon his person.

After a few moments of vigilant scrutiny, Ryou cautiously made his way to the front door of Hatake Sakumo's residence, grabbed the handle of the sliding door, and slid it open. When he peered inside, he inspects the entrance for traps before slipping inside soundlessly.

Knowing that Reo would not be pleased if Ryou was to walk into someone else's home with his shoes dirtying their floorboards, his chubby fingers worked to swiftly tug off his sandals and slid the child-sized, indoor slippers on.

With muted steps, he treaded through the house, hiding within the dark corners whilst simultaneously searching for the jounin sensei he had been assigned to. It didn't take him long to spot an adult male in his mid-twenties, sitting leisurely at the dining table. Ryou didn't care to fully absorb the man's appearance, as his only concern right now was to correctly classify the man into a category.

Was he  _hostile_  like Momo,  _harmless_  like Reo,  _hazardous_  like the Hokage, or  _undetermined_  like Rin? Was he a  _carnivore_ , a  _herbivore_ , or an  _omnivore_?

He decides to put the 'hazardous' label on the man a moment later, knowing an apex predator when he sees one.

Ryou startles when the person he assumes to be Sakumo suddenly looked up, their eyes connecting too abruptly for him to retreat back into the shadows. Ryou dared not look away, muscles tensed as he prepares to flee at a moment's notice.

Maybe-Sakumo promptly smiles, looking more like a herbivore than a carnivore thanks to his laugh lines and benign body language. But Ryou - a person who came from a dystopian world where even toddlers could be put into the hazardous category - would not be fooled by appearances alone. Although he could see no visible weapon or muscle tension indicating a readiness to attack, his instincts told him that this man was downright dangerous if provoked.

"You sure took your time, Nohara Ryou-kun. Did you find anything particularly interesting on your way here?"

Ryou slowly shook his head. If Reo was here with him, his caretaker would've reprimanded Ryou to be polite and greet his future teacher. However, Ryou didn't care for manners. His goal was  _survival_.

"You're a quiet one, huh? I don't mind," Sakumo chuckled, "Come sit here."

Having previously lived in a world that abides the laws of the jungle, where the strong devour the weak and the weak have no choice but to obey the strong, Ryou dared not defy Sakumo's order.

He warily enters the kitchen and seated himself on the only available seat; which was the chair directly across from Sakumo. Albeit due to how short he was, Ryou had to fold his legs underneath him to give him the extra boost in height.

"Good boy. My name is Hatake Sakumo. Can you tell me about yourself, little one?"

Ryou, without a change in expression, spoke in a soft and flat voice, once again obeying the man's direct order, "Ryou. Five-years-old."

Sakumo blinked, "What about your likes, dislikes, and dreams for the future?"

Ryou unconsciously furrows his brows as he thinks deeply about his answers.

"Mittens. Others. Survive."

There was a small moment of hesitant silence where the two of them just stared at each other without doing anything else before Sakumo clears his throat and smiles kindly. Ryou was instantly on guard.

"Yes, I can see why you would like those mittens. They seem comfortable."

Ryou nodded.

"... Alright. Do you have any questions for me?"

Ryou shook his head.

"We'll have to work on that," Sakumo murmured with a sigh.

Ryou only tilted his head, pudgy fingers stroking at his mittens idly.

"Ok, Ryou-kun. Since today is more like an induction, we won't be doing anything exciting right away. Usually, a jounin-sensei would set up a test to see if their genins are ready to be put on the active shinobi roster. However, I believe that there will be no need for such things as this is not the average genin 3 man cell program."

Here, Sakumo pauses to place a yunomi cup in front of Ryou and poured tea into it. Judging by the smell, it was genmaicha, Reo's go-to drink. Ryou did not touch the beverage even after Sakumo has taken a small sip of from his own cup.

"Our daily meeting spot will be here, as we will be in my personal training ground most of the time. Training will start at 7 every morning and genin-related missions will be in the afternoons. You'll have the weekends off unless specified otherwise. We will be working on your chakra control, speed, and stamina the most, and at the same time, we'll figure out what's your specialty and how to progress from there onward. Questions?"

Ryou shook his head.

"We'll add sign language into the list of things we need to work on. From now on, Ryou-kun, whenever I ask a question, you'll have to do this or this when it's a yes or no respectively, okay?"

Sakumo made a gesture similar to putting a fist up and knocking twice on an invisible door whilst nodding his head, and pinching his index and middle finger twice against his thumb, accompanied by the shaking of his head. Ryou was confused but manages to awkwardly follow his teacher's instruction by knocking twice on an invisible door and nodding his head at the same time.

Much to Ryou's alarm, Sakumo's pair of black eyes suddenly lit up in a suspiciously familiar manner, similar to Reo's when his caretaker decides that it was nigh time to attack Ryou's cheeks with pinches and his ears with ambiguous cooing.

Ryou was instantly on guard, slapping his mitten-clad hands on his cheeks as a way to prevent such attacks from succeeding, warily glancing at the silver-haired man's twitching fingers. It only made the jounin-sensei grin widely in return.

Ryou refuses to remove his palms from his cheeks even when the man tries to lull him into a false sense of security by talking about his son, Hatake Kakashi, who was younger than Ryou by two whole years.

In the end, Ryou went home with reddened, puffy cheeks.

As expected. Hatake Sakumo was, indeed, a dangerous carnivore.

* * *

"Alright, Ryou-kun, that's enough for today." The second Sakumo gave the signal to stop, Ryou dropped to his hands and knees, red in the face and inhaling oxygen like a dying man on his last breath. "Go and cool down."

His entire frame trembled with exhaustion, but he forces himself to stand on wobbly feet and limber down his muscles after  _five whole hours_  of strenuous training. As soon as he was done, his sensei shoved a canteen in his face. If this was any other day, Ryou would've been too suspicious to drink another person's water.

Now, however, he snatches the canteen and practically inhaled  _everything_.

"Are you good to continue?" Sakumo asks the second Ryou returns the canteen.

Ryou nodded and, at the same time, awkwardly makes the hand sign for 'yes'. Sakumo looked ready to abuse Ryou's cheeks once again, except Ryou was already covering them, glaring at Sakumo with murder in his eyes. The silver-haired man pouted. It made Ryou scrunch up his nose at herbivorous expression.

After ten minutes of rooftop travel, they arrived at the Academy. Ryou was confused at first, but after Sakumo explains that the Mission Assignment Desk was located within the building, he simply follows after his sensei. Inside the room was a queue, which led to another room.

Apparently, due to client confidentiality for C-Rank missions and above, only one team or person was able to enter the Assignment Room at a single time. Ryou keeps his eyes and ears open whilst simultaneously ignoring the many looks and double-takes he garners. Once again, he couldn't understand why people care so much about another person's appearances or age in this world. A carnivore was a carnivore despite the number of years they lived.

It took another ten minutes for the duo to reach the front and enter the Assignment Room.

"Jounin Hatake Sakumo and genin Nohara Ryou are here for a D-Rank mission," Sakumo spoke straightforwardly.

The men and women seated behind the long table didn't look up from their papers. It was only after a few moments has passed before the man in the center raises his head and smiles at them... before doing a double-take. He blinks in confusion at Ryou but was quick to regain his bearings and returned to being a professional paper-pusher ( _that was what Reo called them_ ).

"At the moment, we have a total of 11 D-Ranks. Repainting the Academy fence, four separate babysittings, three in-village couriers wanted, catching a runaway pet cat, gardening, and collecting medicinal herbs for the hospital."

"Hmm... Because this is Ryou-kun's first ever mission, we should make it a memorable experience. Give us  _the_  Tora retrieval mission, chuunin-san."

"Here you go, Hatake-jounin. Good luck, genin." The paper-pushing herbivore went back to his work after passing a small scroll to Sakumo.

The jounin slipped the scroll into one of his green vest's many pockets and led Ryou out of the room. Somehow, Ryou has a weird feeling that the chuunin was looking at him with pity in his eyes when he was wishing the newly minted genin 'good luck'.

* * *

It took Ryou a total of _five, long, hours_  to catch the blasted animal.

Sakumo was not endearing himself to Ryou  _at all._  Not only was the man a dangerous carnivore inside his 'hazardous' category, but he was also a supreme  _sadist_.

Besides Sakumo not lending a helping hand to capture the wretched animal, he did everything in his power to  _hinder_  Ryou. From giving the wrong directions to making durable clones and illusions of the animal in order to confuse his senses. All the while, Sakumo's smile continues to stretch from ear to ear, completely enjoying Ryou's misery.

Ryou snarled when the cat in his scratch-covered arms began to squirm. The warning growl he let loose manages to frighten the cat into stillness, but he doubts it would last long. This stupid creature has no self-perseverance instincts whatsoever. Never has he seen such foolishness in an animal before.

Usually, animals would submit to him as soon as he glares at them with the intent to  _kill_ or  _maul_. Not this fat, useless, sorry excuse for a feline, however.

It was too dumb to realize that Ryou could snap its fragile neck at any point in time. The only reason why he has not done so was because Sakumo had warned him  _repeatedly_  that if he were to injure or kill the cat, he would fail his first ever mission as a shinobi. And that was not something Ryou wanted on his records.

Just as they were about to enter the Academy building, the cat suddenly unsheathes its sharp claws and swung its paw at his chin, undeniably a last minute effort to free itself from captivity. Ryou hisses at the sting, but he didn't release his hold on it. In fact, his pudgy hand snaked the cat by its nape to dangle the stupid creature away from his face.

"Are you alright, Ryou-kun?" Despite the question, Sakumo's eyes were sparkling in amusement. Ryou's answer was a glower.

Due to his body's short height, the cat's hind legs and tail were sweeping the ground, the creature meowing and hissing at its failed attempt of freedom.

Not wanting any more drama from this worthless animal, he quickly set foot into the building and rushes to the Mission Assignment Desk. Fortunately, there wasn't a queue. Ryou immediately enters the Assignment Room and impatiently waits for Sakumo to saunter after him and report the success of their mission.

"Jounin Hatake Sakumo and genin Nohara Ryou reporting the completion of the Tora retrieval mission."

The chuunin that had assigned them the mission looks up, smiles professionally, and calls for the owner of the cat. There was a separate waiting room that some of the clients stay in, from what Sakumo has told him prior to their arrival here. A woman with thick, purple eyeshadow enters the room and immediately snatches the stupid animal from Ryou's hold.

"Oh, my dear, cute Tora! Thank goodness you've been found! Who'sh the  _cutesth_  cat in the world? You are the  _cutesth_  cat in the world. Yesh you are, yesh you are."

The woman rubs her cheek against the yowling cat's whilst simultaneously dropping an envelope onto the table. Without further ado, she walks arrogantly out of the room, too busy cooing at her cat to bother paying attention to anyone else.

"Here's your pay," The chuunin takes out a small portion from the envelope before handing it to Sakumo, who hands it to Ryou.

As soon as they were out of the building, Sakumo turns to him with a bright smile playing on his lips.

"How do you feel about your first ever mission, Ryou-kun? Exciting, isn't it?"

Ryou shot him a withering glare. If looks could kill, Sakumo would be dead a hundred times over.

"Enjoyed it that much, huh? That's good! We'll do it again once the opportunity calls for it. Next time, we'll aim for four hours, alright, Cub?"

Indeed. Hatake Sakumo was truly a dangerous man. In more ways than Ryou had previously anticipated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> _Ohohohoho~_ ( ╹ਊ╹). Thank you all for your amazing reviews. They made my plot-bunnies hop with so much happiness (*・∀-) . Please, tell me your thoughts on this. I'm still trying to add more blocks into Sakumo's character since he's an unknown canon-character. So, I do hope you guys will come to enjoy and learn his personality soon (○ﾟε^○)


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ryou likes Sakumo's spawn less than he likes Sakumo, which is not a lot.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for the long wait (´ж｀;). Sometimes it takes a while to steer my Plot Bunnies into the right direction. But! Your encouragements and constructive feedbacks motivate me to try harder! So thank you guys for your absolutely thrilling comments!

Ryou wants another jounin to be his sensei.

His current mood was far for pleasant, thoroughly vexed that Sakumo had the  _gall_  to wake him up at 6 in the morning and chose  _babysitting -_  of all things - as their mission for the day. His glares went ignored, and the vexing man practically  _pranced_   _circles_  around his sleep-deprived form.

If the smug and gleeful expression on Sakumo's face wasn't enough of a tell, the address of their client made Ryou realize that something was amiss.

Completely baffled, Ryou now stands stiffly in front of a boy in Sakumo's living room. And judging by the hair color and facial structure, this was Sakumo's  _spawn_. It wasn't a nice discovery.

"Pup, this is daddy's cute student, Nohara Ryou-kun. Cub, meet my adorable Pup, Kakashi. Kakashi is 3 this year," The shinobi Ryou was forced to call his sensei said with a beaming smile, "Normally, I would leave him in daycare whenever I have an assignment. However, I had an epiphany just the previous day! To sum it all up and not bore you with the details; you're going to babysit Kakashi here every day!  _And_  we're not breaking any rules - because  _technically_ , you're on a D-Rank mission right now. Isn't that delightful?"

Ryou deadpans. The man's response to  _his_  response was to smile broader, forcing Ryou to shield his eyes if he didn't wish to go blind by the sheer  _brightness_  exuding from the man.

" _Oh_ ,  _right_. Before I forget-" Ryouta suddenly feels a terrible sense of foreboding brewing in his gut. "-not only will you be babysitting Kakashi until I deem you fit for missions outside the village, I have also pre-signed you for  _every_  future Tora retrieval mission that Konoha will receive _. Isn't that exciting_? I know you just love Tora, so the least I could do was to assign those missions to you. No need for thanks. Anything for my student."

Ryou could feel himself blanch, a  _tick_  soon forming at his temple region. 

Rigidly, he clumsily signs a negative whilst hurriedly shaking his head.  _No_ , he was not happy or excited at this development, nor would he accept such utter nonsense from the man. He didn't sign up to  _babysit_  or _track runaway animals_  when he agreed to be trained as a shinobi!

How could he possibly gain shinobi-relevant experience by doing such  _asinine_  missions?! 

"Good to see you agree with me!" The carnivore bulldozes over his silent disagreement, which earned him a quiet sound of amusement from the man's spawn. Ryou turns his glare on the miniature version of his sensei at that. "I'll let the both of you get acquainted with each other while I prepare brekky - you haven't had breakfast yet, have you, Ryou-kun?"

_'Obviously! Reo wasn't even awake when you kidnapped me!'_ Ryou wanted to snarl, but he keeps his silence, not suicidal enough to provoke the dangerous man into mauling him for his disrespect. Despite Sakumo's cheerful and carefree demeanor, they've only known each other for a week, not long enough for Ryou to really grasp if this was the man's true personality or a facade. 

The jounin sighs at his lack of response but,  _unfortunately_ , wasn't deterred by it.

"You're welcome to join us for breakfast, Ryou-kun. In the meantime, have fun becoming the  _bestests_  of friends, my adorable kiddies!"

Sakumo practically  _bounces_ to the kitchen, whistling a merry tune and leaving behind his moody student to deal with his son's intense staring.

Ryou was skilled enough to hide any visible signs of a shudder that was raking down his spine, unnerved by the boy's unblinking gaze. It made his hackles rise at the potential threat to his life, the many memories of the  _children_  in his previous world coming to the forefront of his mind.

Hatake Kakashi was behaving  _exactly_  like the children from Generation Beta, always silent and assessing, weighing other humans as if they were either a commodity or a liability to their chances of survival. Ryou, a hypocrite of the highest order, doesn't mind evaluating the worth of others, but he hates it when it was done to him.

Seeing that Sakumo was only a room away, Ryou knows that he wouldn't have any chance of gouging Kakashi's abyss-like eyes out of their sockets despite the urge to cripple a potential threat at its infancy. So he wisely backs away without taking his eyes off of the silver-haired boy, until the back of his knees hit the couch and he cautiously takes a seat, body ready to bolt at a moment's notice.

He usually wouldn't have put himself in such a disadvantageous position, but Kakashi was short enough that his height wouldn't be able to loom over Ryou even if he takes a seat, so Ryou took his chances. It would be wiser of him to get as much rest as he could possibly manage before Sakumo starts their vigorous, early morning training sessions.

Kakashi only tilts his head to the side at Ryou's action, still unblinking.

"You are a genin."

Kakashi states more than asks, eyes flicking to the hitai-ate wrapped around his forehead and back again. Ryou didn't react and continues to keep a blank face. What Ryou hates more than questions were  _stupid_  questions.

" _How_? You look about the same age as me,  _maybe_  a year or two older, yet why are  _you_  allowed to become a shinobi while dad still hasn't consented for me to attend the Academy early? What's the difference between us? I doubt you are as good or advanced as I am."

Ryou immediately reevaluates Kakashi.

The boy wasn't the silent, violent type like those children from Generation Beta, who'd rather attack first ask  _never_. He was more petulant, only silent because of  _want_  rather than  _need_. The childish behavior was enough to lessen the tension in Ryou's shoulders a little.

Honestly, Ryou should have learned by now to  _stop_  comparing the populace of this world to that dystopian one. He finds it  _aggravating_ that he has trouble  _adapting_ after his reincarnation. Never before has he had this problem when he had been Liam, as not having the flexibility to adapt could result in the person's demise.

(... Although perhaps it might have something to do with how he was aware of how uncoordinated, young, and clumsy this body was compared to Liam's athletic and graceful one. Everything just feels more...  _threatening_  in a child's perspective.)

Perhaps he has been unresponsive for too long, for Kakashi lets out a sound of frustration and strides forward angrily with balled fists. He comes to a stop just shy from touching Ryou's knees, his bottom lip jutted out in an unintentional pout, a far cry from the seemingly stoic persona just moments before.

"Well? Answer me!" Sakumo's spawn demanded.

Ryou levels an unimpressed look at the silver-haired boy.

He decides there and then to demote Kakashi from a  _possible-omnivore_  ( _only because he had assumed Sakumo had sharpened the boy's fangs_ ) to a  _herbivore_. Once the boy matures a little,  _maybe_  Ryou would find the time to deem him fit enough for a reevaluation. For now, however, Ryou dearly wishes for Sakumo to  _hurry the hell up._  Dangerous carnivore he may be, but the man's company was preferable to this brat who looked to be on the verge of throwing a huge tantrum.

He has witnessed plenty of his twin's temper tantrums over the years, and damn it if he wants to spectate another brat bawling their eyes out for no apparent reason than to make themselves a nuisance to others. 

In spite of the fact that he finds blood and viscera to be comforting,  _snot_  and  _saliva_  was another matter altogether. They  _disgust_  him. Just the thoughts of those fluids making  _contact_  with his  _skin_  were enough to make him debate on the prospect of a boiling hot shower.

Cue shudder.

Ryou's lips were pressed into a thin line as he rudely curls his legs nearer to his body, wanting them to be as physically far away as possible from Kakashi and the probable  _waterworks._

His actions seem to make Kakashi pause, a collection of amusing facial expressions playing across his boyish features before finally, they settled on  _indignant_ fury. Ryou suddenly has this peculiar urge to poke Kakashi's puffed out, soft-looking, pinkish, cherubic cheeks.

He didn't know what had brought about this incentive or where it had come from, but he recoils violently from those thoughts as if they had physically burnt him.

"Y-You...! You just thought I'm a  _kid_ and _too young_  to think about  _anything_  other than _playing ninja_ , didn't you?!" Kakashi all but snarls, a trembling finger pointed at Ryou's nose. "Well guess what?  _I'm not_! Dad praised my shurikenjutsu and chakra control and taijutsu and...  _and_... I'm  _better_  than you are so you can just  _go away_! Dad doesn't need to waste precious time on losers like  _you_ when he could be training  _me_!"

Ryou raises a brow curiously, unsure of where this was going. It was a harmless gesture, but it seems to have offended the boy  _further_ in the form of increased blinking and shaky fists - tells that Kakashi was filled with stressful anger. Cluelessly, he wonders what, exactly, he did to make Kakashi so angry in the first place.

Other than the feelings of bewilderment, Ryou's pair of onyx eyes had sharpened at the first sign of aggression from Sakumo's spawn. Flared nostrils was a non-verbal language that indicates a person taking in more air into their system in order to oxygenate their blood in preparation to attack.

Ryou became eerily still.

In any other situation, if a herbivore were to have thoughts of bitting him, he would have eliminated the pest before they could so much as  _threaten_  his life. However, in this situation, he would retreat as soon as Kakashi  _pounces_. Sakumo was too much of a hazard for Ryou to retaliate in kind.

As expected, Kakashi was the one who made the first move, but it wasn't a move that Ryou had predicted. The boy took a huge step back -  _abrupt enough to throw Ryou off his momentum when the mini Hatake removes himself from Ryou's personal space_  - and bodily composes himself by leveling his breathing. Even his angry expression has been erased, replaced by a stoic demeanor.

Ryou, in turn, took an equally deep breath in, having not realized he had stopped breathing entirely as he waited for an attack that never came. He had fallen back into his  _survive-at-all-cost_  mentality; holding onto his breath, staying completely still, and looking for an exit in the face of a horde of zombies.

The two practically  _jumped_  when a loud and reverberating clap all but _sliced_   _through_  the palpable tension that had settled over the room. A glance to the kitchen entrance revealed Sakumo with his hands together, leaning heavily on the door frame.

"It warms my heart to see my Pup and Cub getting along marvelously well," The infuriating man chirps with a smile, easily ignoring the twin expressions of disdain. "Alas, you'll temporarily have to endure this old man getting in the way of your delightful conversation. You kiddies can continue later - it's time for breakfast!"

Kakashi's snort was telling of what he thinks about his father describing their battle of wills as a ' _delightful conversation_ '. Ryou suddenly feels some sort of sympathy for the young Hatake - to have to deal with an overactive, sadistic spartan of a father every day was...  _pitiful_.

Thank goodness Reo didn't behave like Sakumo. Ryou would've contemplated patricide if that were the case.  _Oh_ ,  _wait_. He already does that on a day to day basis ( _just not as much as of late_ ).

Ryou's musings were cut short when the two children were swiftly ushered into the dining area of the kitchen by a hand on their shoulder and then forced to sit facing the other whilst breakfast was being served.

Ryou was a person with a generally poor appetite -  _especially_  in the mornings - and prefers to snack around the clock. Hence, it wasn't a surprise that he left a third of his plate untouched, much to his sensei apparent disapproval.

"Finish the plate, Ryou-kun. Training will commence soon and I can't have you fainting on me," Sakumo picks up the discarded fork and places them into Ryou's palm, making sure to physically curl his thicker fingers around his student's smaller ones when it looked like Ryou would simply drop them again.

Using the hand not held by Sakumo, Ryou pushes away his plate rather than telling the man that he was full. He loathes to waste precious resources. However, he would be violently ill if he continues eating such a heavy meal. Besides, he  _technically_  wasn't throwing away the consumables as fridges and freezers still work in this world.

Reo has accommodated to Ryou's dietary habits, and if Sakumo wishes to take over his caretaker's job of fixing him breakfast, Sakumo would have to become accustomed to it too.

Sakumo gives a disgruntled huff and pushes the plate to its original place in front of Ryou. Without looking at the man, he again pushes it away from him. The plate went back and forth across the table, with Sakumo grumbling about ' _stubborn boys_ ' and Ryou glaring at his sensei in displeasure.

He just wants training to start already. Was that so difficult to understand?

"This is shameful and childish behavior, Nohara," A child's voice called out, causing the two shinobi to pause and turn to the younger Hatake, all three of their expressions blank. "Shinobi Rule #03: A shinobi  _must_  follow their commander's instructions. What kind of genin are you if you cannot even follow simple directions?"

Ryou loses all color in his face at the reminder.

With trembling lips, he turns away from the only civilian in this house and yanks his hand out from Sakumo's now slack hold. Silently, he stabs his fork into the food and forces himself to eat. He pretends that his gag reflex wasn't fighting him at every swallow, pretends that his stomach wasn't clenching from pain, and pretends that he was a good soldier that would follow all commands.  

Loathe as he was to admit it, Kakashi was  _right_ ; his behavior had been  _unacceptable_. 

If Sakumo, his superior officer, orders him to jump off a cliff, Ryou was  _obliged_  to jump off a cliff without asking any questions. If he had acted with such childishness in front of other more strict jounin, it was within their rights to  _execute_  him on grounds of  _mutiny,_  from what the Academy taught them.

He was currently living inside a military base-  _community,_ that was on the brink of war. And he was  _only_  one of their many cannon fodders. A disobedient tool wouldn't be useful, it would only cause problems and should thus be promptly discarded. How could Ryou have forgotten?

_Ah, right_.

Breakfast has always been a meal eaten with Reo as his sole company, causing Ryou to loosen his guards on grounds that he was  _safe_. It had become a habit. This was definitely a mistake he would not be repeating, that was for sure. Not until he was strong enough that he could  _choose_  which order to obey, at least.

Leaders tend to be lenient to the strong.

"Enough, Ryou-kun.  _Enough_."

At Sakumo's solemn tone of voice, Ryou looks up from his plate ( _half of the food now gone_ ), practically green in the face as he swallows down the bile and undigested food that was steadily rising defiantly up his oesophagus. With as much control as he could muster, he places a hand on the lower half of his face and responded in a small voice, practically inaudible to civilian ears.

"Yes, sir."

Sakumo's eyes widen for a split second before he cracks a small, apologetic smile.

"Forgive me. It hadn't been my intention to make you sick," Despite Sakumo's gentle tone and harmless body language, Ryou still flinches when he feels a large palm ruffle his hair.

Although he was uncomfortable, Ryou made no move to dislodge the appendage, knowing that one wrong move could potentially set Sakumo off and easily break his face against the tabletop. Liam had had his nose broken and his teeth fall out so many times he lost count; the memories of people grabbing him by the hair to knee him in the face or smash his mug on the nearest surface were  _plenty_.

"Kakashi. Although rules are made to be followed, it shouldn't be followed  _blindly_. It does not  _own_  us. It is there to  _guide_  us. Shinobi are humans too, pup. It is important that we not forget that."

" _Hmph_ , if you say so, dad. I still think rules shouldn't be broken, however," Kakashi sulkily sets his fork aside and crosses his arms. "It's easier when you just follow orders."

"You are entitled to your own opinion, son," Sakumo chuckles, his eyes soft. "One day, you'll come to understand the meaning behind my words. But that's enough philosophy for now. Are you done or would you like seconds?"

"I'm full," Kakashi shakes his head.

When Sakumo turns to Ryou, he too follows Kakashi's example.

"Alrighty! Ryou-kun, why don't you run along and bring Kakashi to our training area while I clean the table?" With one last hair ruffle to both Ryou and Kakashi, Sakumo shoos them out of his kitchen.

Silently, Ryou slips on a pair of fingerless mittens over his hands and grabs ahold of Kakashi's dangling wrist. Without waiting for the boy to react, he all but drags his Sakumo's herbivorous spawn to the training area at the back.

The job of a babysitter was to basically keep their charge from dying, right? In Ryou's mind, keeping someone safe meant keeping them  _glued_  to his side. Despite how he dislikes children in general, Ryou would complete his mission at all cost. Even if that meant he would have to endure Kakashi's bratty personality, insufferable whining, and temper tantrums.

As soon as he begins his warm-up ( _after tying Kakashi to one of the three stumps in the middle of the training area, of course_ ), he could already feel his eyebrows pinch at the sensation of his stomach doing somersaults in his gut.

The high pitched complaints started not even a minute into his set of stretches, but Ryou tries to block them out to the best of his abilities. The headache he was getting because of Kakashi's whining makes him wish sorely for there to be zombies in this world, just so he could toss the brat into a pit full of those ravenous bastards.

_Ah_ , the things he has to  _endure_  and  _do_  for the purpose of getting stronger was  _degrading_.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wew. What a chapter! It had been a battle and a half to write toddler!Kakashi instead of a thirty-year-old troll!Kakashi. 
> 
> I'm seriously happy to see that many of you love Reo and his antics, and are intrigued by Ryou and his perspective of normal. I admit that I may have channeled Hibari Kyoya too much in the past chapters, but I assure you that I'm working on his character development ( •̀u• ́)ﻭ✧! He'll meet more and more people and they'll have an effect on him. Whether or not he likes the changes in him, we can only know in the future!
> 
> Anyway, I do hope you've enjoyed the read? Please, I would love to hear your thoughts (＾ω＾)!
> 
> _P.S._ In my headcanon, 3-year-old Kakashi is an insufferable brat with a daddy complex and hasn't yet discovered the beauty of wearing a mask (・ωｰ)

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoy my stories and would like to further support my writing hobbies, please consider leaving me [coffee](https://ko-fi.com/V7V5HKR7) @ https://ko-fi.com/V7V5HKR7 ! It'll be heavily appreciated! (๑•̀ㅁ•́ฅ


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